Volume 80, Number 49 | May 5- 11, 2011
West and East Village, Chelsea, Soho, Noho, Little Italy, Chinatown and Lower East Side, Since 1933

Police Blotter

Christopher muggers
Police are seeking two men and a woman suspected in five robbery/assaults on Christopher St. between April 11 and April 27. On Wed., April 27, the suspects victimized a man, 26. They hit him on the head around 1:30 a.m. in front of 81 Christopher St. between Seventh Ave. South and Bleecker St. and robbed him. The previous day at 1:30 a.m. on Christopher St. at Seventh Ave. South the suspects approached a victim, demanded his property, then assaulted and robbed him. On Mon., April 25, a man, 32, was knocked to the ground and robbed at 4 a.m. in front of 57 Christopher St. On Fri., April 15, the suspects knocked a man, 68, to the ground in front of 125 Christopher St. at about 8 p.m. and robbed him. On Mon., April 11, a 28-year-old man was assaulted and robbed at 3:20 a.m. on Christopher St. at Seventh Ave. South.

The woman was described as black, between age 30 and 35, with a heavy build, short brown hair, wearing a gray hoodie, light blue jeans and also a backpack. One man was described as black, between age 32 and 35, with a lean build, short black hair, multicolored outer vest and tan pants. The other man was described as light-skinned black, between age 28 and 32, 5 feet 10 inches tall, with a stocky build and short hair, and wearing a white T-shirt and blue jeans.

E.V. bank robber
Police are looking for a man wanted in connection with the robbery of the Chase branch at 156 Second Ave. near E. 10th St. on Fri., April 22. The suspect entered the bank at 9:15 a.m., passed a demand note to a teller and fled after receiving an undisclosed sum of cash. The suspect is a Hispanic man in his 20s, between 5 feet 3 inches and 5 feet 7 inches tall, wearing black wraparound sunglasses, a gray-and-brown hoodie, black leather jacket, blue jeans and dark-colored footwear.

Targeted deliverymen
Police are looking for three men wanted in two robberies of food deliverymen in the Jacob Riis Houses on Avenue D.

A 22-year-old man was making a delivery from Rays Gourmet, 201 Second Ave., at 11:15 p.m. Tues., March 29, to the 13th floor of 108 Avenue D when the suspects punched him in the face, knocked him to the floor and took $400 before fleeing.

Two men, one age 28 and the other, 61, were making a delivery from No. 1 Chinese Restaurant, 265 First Ave., to the 13th floor of 108 Avenue D around 10:10 p.m. Thurs., April 7, when the suspects forced them into the stairwell, punched the younger man in the face and took cell phones from both victims, plus $20 from the younger man and $200 from the older man, before fleeing.

One suspect was described as a black man, 20 to 25 years old, 6 feet 2 inches or 6 feet 3 inches tall, and weighing between 250 and 300 pounds. The other two suspects were described as black, 20 to 25 years old, 5 feet 11 inches tall and 170 pounds.

Caught in the act
A man returning home to his fourth-floor apartment on Broadway near Spring St. around 11:30 p.m. Wed., April 27, met a man with a bag full of his possessions coming down the stairs, police said. The resident, 60, told the suspect to put the stuff back and then made a call to police. Cops found that the suspect had left the bag with some of the stolen property on the floor of the man’s apartment but had jumped out of a window onto the roof of an adjacent building. Police arrested Luis Diaz, 31, on the roof. The suspect had an injured leg and was still in possession of a few of the stolen items, plus a screwdriver. He was charged with burglary and possession of a burglary tool.

Nab Wash. Sq. mugger
Police arrested Powell Hassan, 46, and charged him with robbing a man on Washington Square North near the arch at 9:55 p.m. Wed., April 27. The suspect punched the victim, 61, in the face, grabbed his cell phone and fled, said police who canvassed the area with the victim and a witness, who both identified the suspect.

Window smashed
A suspect who threw a rock and smashed a window at 30 W. 10th St. around 4 a.m. Wed., April 20, and fled was arrested on Fri., April 29, police said. Melissa Justice, 40, was charged with criminal mischief.

East Village DOA
Police responded to a 911 call at 7:05 p.m. Sun., May 1, about an unconscious man in apartment 4G at 65 E. 11th St. An Emergency Medical Service team arrived at the same time and declared the resident, Joshua Birbaum, 24, dead on arrival. No criminality is suspected and the Medical Examiner’s Office is investigating the cause of death.

Bias stabbing
A man who shouted that he would kill all black people in Union Square Park around 7:30 p.m. Fri., April 22, attacked a pedestrian at the E. 15th St. side of the park with a knife and stabbed him three times, police said. The victim, 28, was walking with a friend at the time and was taken to Beth Israel Hospital in stable condition.

Cell-phone snatch
A Village resident was using his cell phone while sitting on a bench on the southeast corner of Thompson and West Houston Sts. at 7:30 p.m. Sun., May 1, when a stranger grabbed the phone and fled south on Thompson St., police said. The victim gave chase but the thief escaped.

‘Hamburglar’ strikes
A man walked into the McDonald’s on Seventh Ave. near 14th St. around midnight Fri., April 29, indicated that he had a gun in his waistband and fled with $644 that he snatched from a cash drawer behind the counter, police said.

Crepe crooks
Two men entered Vive Les Crepes on Spring St. near Mulberry St. around 11:30 p.m. Mon., April 26, and one of them shouted, “I’ll shoot you!” and demanded money, police said. Neither displayed a gun, but they made off with $1,600 in a black minivan with tinted windows parked nearby.